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Dyson, techno-centric design and social consumption

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Re: Dyson, techno-centric design and social consumption

#111

Post by IshKebab »

buran77 wrote: post #63
IshKebab wrote: post #39

I used to work for Dyson and I think this is quite off in many ways. * The industrial design of Dyson products is generally great. I don't think they poke you or anything like that. They even have nice affordances like all the things you can use being red. Contrast that with my terrible Shark where everything is black. Took me a good few seconds to find the bin release button. It also has an atrocious UX - a slow on/…

> has an atrocious UX - a slow on/off button instead of a trigger, and an amazingly useless "smart power" feature that just varies the power almost completely randomly as you vacuum. Contrast that with the Dyson v15 which has a trigger I have to hold continuously while I twist and turn the vacuum so I can't change the grip without it turning on and off as my finger slips off the trigger or inevitably gets tired. Or t…

> or inevitably gets tired

The triggers are so light, I fail to see how anyone could get tired. It basically requires no more grip than just holding it.

> Or the amazingly useless "smart power" feature that just varies the power almost completely randomly as I vacuum an otherwise perfectly smooth hard floor.

Oh no Dyson did that too? I assumed it was just Shark.

It's clearly a hack so they can lie about amazing pickup and battery life (....but not at the same time)

Re: Dyson, techno-centric design and social consumption

#112

Post by brulard »

Ambroisie wrote: post #13
bredren wrote: post #10

This piece doesn't mention the fluffy cones next gen replacement to the dyson stick vac: https://youtu.be/ve6JuJV17FQ?si=aCq_qwtpAhRyS0by&t=159 It was announced a month ago and seems to handle the design criticism in this blog entry. If it works as well as demonstrated will put it in a new class of vac.

I have to say, I don't see what makes it handle the criticism from the OP. It looks exactly the same as every other Dyson product I've ever seen.

Same as other Dyson product? Have you watched the video or used their vacuum cleaners?

Re: Dyson, techno-centric design and social consumption

#113

Post by brulard »

ryandrake wrote: post #97

I've always wondered why central vacuum systems never took off. We recently moved into a house that was built in that sweet spot in the late 80s / early 90s when central vac was getting pretty popular, and we love it. Quiet, light (you're not hauling around a motor) and with lots of wall inlets, you can vacuum the whole house with a pretty short hose. In my view, this was peak vacuum design, and they perplexingly see…

The investment is quite big, I don't know about maintenance but I would expect these air ducts need to be cleaned regularly. Then you need to switch the hose many times to clean the whole house, right? I'm using dyson v12 slim battery vacuum and I'm quite happy. Battery lasts for almost 50 minutes, it's easy to empty, quite lightweight and the green light illuminating the floor is so useful. I don't see why I would ever consider the central one.

Re: Dyson, techno-centric design and social consumption

#114

Post by brulard »

llsf wrote: post #95

I have a Dyson DC15 ( https://www.dyson.com/support/vacuum-cleaners/uprights/dc15 ) purchased in 2006. Using it once a week (with few exceptions here and there) for nearly 20 years now, and working perfectly fine. Yes, it is heavy, and corded, but it is a beast, and still amazed at how much dust it gets every week. I have to admit that I am not impressed at all by the latest Dyson cordless versions, including the new…

I have a V12 and had V6 cordless before and I am quite impressed by these including the Pencil one. It made vacuuming at our home quite simple even for kids. Where do you see they are lacking?

Re: Dyson, techno-centric design and social consumption

#115

Post by seanmcdirmid »

lurking_swe wrote: post #87
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Real furniture stores lay somewhere between being useful and being like a mattress sales money laundering operation. I just find most of them full of gaudy furniture that I’m not sure anyone would really buy (hence my guess that money laundering is involved). In the Seattle area, the best I could find is Dania, which is a chain that is basically a higher end IKEA that focuses more on furniture (Scandinavian style).

I’ll be in seattle in a few months, maybe i’ll swing by Dania for an hour just to see what they have. Thanks for the recommendation! Some brands that you might like if you are looking for buy it for life. Some sell direct, some only sell via wholesale to other furniture stores. This is a list from a note i created 3 years ago when i was shopping for a new dining table. * MS&Wood. Bosnian company, 100% wood products.…

I think Dania and Scandinavian design have stores in many states, not just Seattle. It’s just the best solution we found here that matched our furniture preferences. Online retailers are hard to deal with since it’s not clear what you are getting without showrooms.

Re: Dyson, techno-centric design and social consumption

#116

Post by llsf »

brulard wrote: post #114
llsf wrote: post #95

I have a Dyson DC15 ( https://www.dyson.com/support/vacuum-cleaners/uprights/dc15 ) purchased in 2006. Using it once a week (with few exceptions here and there) for nearly 20 years now, and working perfectly fine. Yes, it is heavy, and corded, but it is a beast, and still amazed at how much dust it gets every week. I have to admit that I am not impressed at all by the latest Dyson cordless versions, including the new…

I have a V12 and had V6 cordless before and I am quite impressed by these including the Pencil one. It made vacuuming at our home quite simple even for kids. Where do you see they are lacking?

Okay maybe I am an outlier, but when I vacuum my place (1400 sqft), it takes about 1hr. I fill half of the container with dust. I am kinda thorough, maybe borderline OCD :)

And so I need a vacuum that is not going to lose power, so I am happy to stay corded, with full sucking power all the way.

I can see the Pencil useful for a quick limited vacuuming.

Re: Dyson, techno-centric design and social consumption

#117

Post by calmbonsai »

hammock wrote: post #29
calmbonsai wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. The best cordless vacuums all follow the same basic flow-through (e.g. https://a.co/d/bpto7LL ) design and are around $30 USD. The cost multiple of a Dyson doesn't even result in incremental performance. The singular use case for a Dyson cordless is frequent cleaning of an uncarpeted floor in a public space (e.g. coffee shop, gym) as it does have substantially reduced noise while running.

> The singular use case for a Dyson cordless is frequent cleaning of an uncarpeted floor in a public space (e.g. coffee shop, gym) as it does have substantially reduced noise while running This problem was solved before electric vacuums ever even existed. I can still remember the days of seeing these things being used in hotels and restaurants: (google non-electric electrostatic sweeper)

I agree. I was just highlighting the singular use case I've witnessed for the Dyson.

Re: Dyson, techno-centric design and social consumption

#118

Post by 2earth »

IshKebab wrote: post #39

I used to work for Dyson and I think this is quite off in many ways. * The industrial design of Dyson products is generally great. I don't think they poke you or anything like that. They even have nice affordances like all the things you can use being red. Contrast that with my terrible Shark where everything is black. Took me a good few seconds to find the bin release button. It also has an atrocious UX - a slow on/…

hey, author here, thought I'd reply to you. Cheers for reading and thanks for the feedback.

I wanted to explore how the focus on tech-centrism impacts the product design and styling. I do think Dyson makes compromises on cost and ergonomics to uphold their brand values. Does that mean the products are bad? No - but I think they could be better. Do I think a lot of other products on the market are far, FAR worse? yes. But Dyson asks us to hold them to much higher standards (and pay a lot more). So I think serious design criticism is warranted.

Dryer time - there is a huge spectrum here. There are many dryers which cost a fraction of an airblade and dry with similar speed. My real point is that dry speed is a key factor but not the only factor, and that I believe other manufacturers have set their design decision-making with a different set of priorities.

You make a good point about colour-coded interaction points - and the consistent application of those colours across the vacuum product range is good as well. I intend to update the article with some feedback and I'll be sure to mention that for balance.

Regarding James Dyson and the invention culture: I worked with senior ex-dyson designers some 6 years ago so have some 2nd hand awareness over the IPR culture and JD's oversight of design reviews. I agree that I don't think the public literally think that it's JD himself inventing things (though, he is certainly more involved in design than a typical CEO). Yet the objective of the Dyson branding is surely to ensure that the name James Dyson is firmly in the public consciousness as an inventor extraordinaire. I think that is a conscious choice by Dyson and that it has a sizeable influence on societal perceptions of the design profession.

Cheers!

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